


A New Beginning

by alltheglowingeyes



Series: PJO/HoO/ToA One Shots [37]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan, The Trials of Apollo - Rick Riordan
Genre: Developing Friendships, Gen, I'm Bad At Summaries, I'm Bad At Titles, Pre-The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson), idk - Freeform, mOre wiLL soLaCe bAckStoRY woT, this ones like eh but kjfdhkjdfhkjfd
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-26
Updated: 2020-10-26
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:35:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,513
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27215044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alltheglowingeyes/pseuds/alltheglowingeyes
Summary: "“Catcher In The Rye? I didn’t take you for the type,” she remarked, raising an eyebrow at him.Will sniffed indignantly, “Well, you don’t know me that well. Now give it back.”“What’s the main character’s name?”“Just give it back.”“Setting?”“How am I-”“Can you even name the author?”“I don’t- why are you quizzing me?”“C’mon. If you are reading this, surely you’ll know that much?”"OR Annabeth tries to befriend Will Solace, but some things come back to bite her. She tries to make amends the best way she knows how to.
Relationships: Annabeth Chase & Will Solace
Series: PJO/HoO/ToA One Shots [37]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1861492
Comments: 19
Kudos: 83





	A New Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> This was a reeeeeeally old draft that I finally finished up today. Maybe the whole concept sucks, IDK. I had just written up a lot of it and then gave up lol, so I wanted to finish it up at least.
> 
> Enjoy! :)
> 
> \- alltheglowingeyes

Annabeth stood at the entrance of the Apollo Cabin, glaring at the closed door. She turned around, ready to walk away, but caught sight of Luke watching her closely. The moment they made eye contact, he squinted at her and did a  _ I’m watching you _ motion. Annabeth simply rolled her eyes in response, turning back to the cabin in front of her.

Knocking on the cabin door, she heard a quiet but cheery “Come in!” She turned the door handle and made her way inside of the cabin.

The Apollo Cabin was rather basic in decorations. There were some beds neatly lined up on two of the opposite walls, with the back of the cabin lined with musical instruments of all sorts, a bookshelf, and what looked to be miscellaneous medical supplies. The cabin was void of campers, except for the youngest member of the Apollo kids, Will Solace.

Will was sitting on one of the beds, closer to the back of the cabin. He had a book lying in front of him, but the moment he noticed Annabeth, he slammed the book shut, pushing it away from him in slight alarm. 

Annabeth took a step forward, but still stayed a good distance away from the son of Apollo. He smiled at her, but she could tell it was forced. “Hi there. What can I do for you?”

The daughter of Athena hesitated, wondering if it was too late to just walk out. She didn’t want to be here, talking to Will Solace. The only reason she was here was because Luke was forcing her to speak to him.

If she was being honest with herself, however, it wasn’t that she didn’t  _ like _ the son of Apollo. He actually seemed really friendly and went out of his way to be genuinely kind to other campers, even if he barely knew who they were. He was also pretty smart, having been the youngest addition to the infirmary staff. Yes, Annabeth didn’t have any reasons to dislike Will Solace, except for one.

She knew the reason was irrational and silly and she shouldn’t even be concerned about it. But her reason for disliking Will Solace was plain and simple:  _ Luke _ .

Luke was  _ her _ best friend, the person whom she looked up to the most at Camp. She was the younger sibling who Luke took under his wing and doted on. And then Will came around, and suddenly Luke’s attention was split between her and Will.

She knew she wasn’t as sociable or as extroverted as Will, and she never cared about that. But everytime she would see Will run over to show Luke some new thing he made at arts and crafts, or when Luke would offer to work on Will’s fighting abilities, she couldn’t fight the feeling that she was going to be left behind. She was used to being replaced, pushed to the side, and she wasn’t sure if she could handle being abandoned by Luke as well. So, she resorted to channeling her fears into a strong dislike for the son of Apollo.

Apparently, she was channeling it too strong, as Will cleared his throat, drawing her back to reality. “Are you ok? You look, um… angry.”

Annabeth blinked, focusing on relaxing her face muscles. “I’m fine. I came here to talk to you.”

Will huffed slightly, “I figured. I’m off-duty right now, so unless it’s really serious, you should check in with Lee or Kassy in the infirmary,” the son of Apollo replied, not looking Annabeth in the eye.

Annabeth frowned, before understanding what he meant. “I’m not injured,” the daughter of Athena grumbled. “I just want to… to talk with you. Like friends.”

Will frowned, still avoiding eye contact, “We aren’t friends.”

Annabeth raised an eyebrow, slightly bemused. Apparently Will was more perceptive than she thought. 

“Even if we aren’t friends, we can get to know each other.” Upon realizing Will still wasn’t looking at her, she felt a flash of annoyance. “Is there a problem with that?”

Will was quiet for a moment, before speaking up softly. “You don’t like me,” he mumbled blue eyes locking onto her grey ones and flashing with hurt.

Annabeth felt heat rise to her face at the blunt accusation, “Wha- who told you that?” she demanded.

Will glared at her with a vengeance that she had never seen on the docile younger camper’s face, “I  _ heard it _ from you. You and Mari were making fun of me”.

Annabeth blinked, furrowing her brow in thought as she tried to recall what he could be talking about. Suddenly, she had a vague memory of visiting Mari in the infirmary a few weeks prior. Her sister had been in after a bad migraine had her unable to do anything for a day or so, and she had decided to visit. She didn’t remember specifically what she said about Will, but she knew that some not-so-nice thing probably came up, wincing slightly at the memory.

Annabeth sighed, unsure of what to say. She couldn’t take back any of the things she said; she was sure Will was smart enough to know that she was just doing it to get on his good side. She almost decided to leave right then, when her eyes landed on the book Will had been reading.

Stepping closer, she picked up the book, ignoring Will’s protests.

“ _ Catcher In The Rye _ ? I didn’t take you for the type,” she remarked, raising an eyebrow at him. She knew the book had a specific audience as is, but for an eight-year-old to be reading it? Something was off.

Will sniffed indignantly, “Well, you don’t know me that well. Now give it  _ back _ ,” he grumbled, making grabby hands. However, the daughter of Athena wasn’t sold.

“What’s the main character’s name?” she asked. Will harrumphed, trying to grab the book a few more times before slumping back down.

“Just give it  _ back. _ ”

“Setting?”

“How am I-”

“Can you even name the  _ author _ ?”

“I don’t- why are you quizzing me?”

“C’mon. If you are reading this, surely you’ll know that much?”

Will glared at the bed sheets, and it was then Annabeth noticed he was shaking a little. He mumbled something under his breath, words blurring together.

Annabeth sighed, sitting down at the far edge of Will’s bed and placing the book down. “What’s wrong?” she asked, trying to be gentle.

Will looked up, face a little flushed and eyes slightly wet. He still managed a glare, “You’ll just make fun of me again. Why are you still bugging me?”

Annabeth folded her hands over her chest, waiting for Will to speak. He sighed in frustration, and after a few seconds spoke up. “I can’t- I don’t know how to read it properly.”

Annabeth blinked a little confused. Part of her was expecting that, but it also didn’t really make sense to her. “Aren’t you eight now? You should've learned-”

“I know I should know how to,” he snapped irritably, cutting her off. “I can do it, I guess, but it all just swims around and hurts my head. And because of all my stupid  _ problems _ , all my teachers just gave up on me and I can’t- I’m just too dumb to read properly.”

Will sighed heavily, rubbing his eyes. “How can I be a doctor if I can’t even do this?” he mumbled quietly.

Annabeth remained silent for a few seconds. Then, she abruptly stood up.

“Stay here. I’ll be right back.”

Before Will could say anything, she bolted out of the Apollo Cabin. Less than five minutes later, she returned with a stack of hand-picked books for reading, placing them in front of a dejected looking Will.

“What’s this?” he mumbled, eyeing her and the book stack cautiously.

“Your new reading curriculum. I’m going to help you be the best reader you can be, and then if you ever go back home you can rub it in your stupid teachers’ faces”.

Will’s eyes scanned the books in front of him, still looking a little unsure. “Why are you being nice to me now? I won’t tell anyone if you leave or something.”

Annabeth rolled her eyes, picking a book from the top of the pile. “Everyone deserves a chance to get a good teacher to help them out. You aren’t dumb; you just need a little more help. Now, let’s get started before I retract my services, got it?”

Will looked a little cautious for a few more seconds before nodding, moving over to make room so Annabeth could sit next to him. As she handed the selection of books for Will to pick from, she vaguely noticed Luke and Lee Fletcher peaking through the doorway, grinning victoriously at the two demigods side-by-side. Luke mouthed a quick  _ awww _ at the sight as Annabeth rolled her eyes, suppressing a smile and turning her attention back to Will’s book choice.

They might not be friends;  _ hell _ , they had a long way to go before they could reach that. But maybe it could be the start of something new.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed! IDK, I like to think Annabeth and Will didn't get along at first, but end up getting pretty close because (in my HC's) they are both year-rounders from a young age.
> 
> IDK what else to say. I need to study for my trig test now lmaoooo so yeehaw.
> 
> Leave any requests/headcanons, if you want!
> 
> You can follow me on my tumblr @alltheglowingeyess for updates on multichapter fics/a compiled list of my one-shots/random Riordanverse shit, or to just say hi. :)


End file.
